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Photo by Brantley Bargerhuff
Jaylen Melton (8) reaches for a pass in the game between Clay-Chalkville and Oxford On Friday, Oct. 18, 2024 at Oxford High School.
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Photo by Brantley Bargerhuff
Clay-Chalkville coaches watch a play develop in the game between Clay-Chalkville and Oxford On Friday, Oct. 18, 2024 at Oxford High School.
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Photo by Brantley Bargerhuff
Aaron Frye (14) hands off to Joshua Woods (11) in the game between Clay-Chalkville and Oxford On Friday, Oct. 18, 2024 at Oxford High School.
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Photo by Brantley Bargerhuff
Deon Callins (7) back pedals in defense against Jaylin Taylor (1) in the game between Clay-Chalkville and Oxford On Friday, Oct. 18, 2024 at Oxford High School.
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Photo by Brantley Bargerhuff
Caleb Wynn (0) attempts to break a tackle in the game between Clay-Chalkville and Oxford on Friday, Oct. 18, 2024 at Oxford High School.
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Photo by Brantley Bargerhuff
Jamarcus Davenport (96) sacks Mason Mimms (16) in the game between Clay-Chalkville and Oxford On Friday, Oct. 18, 2024 at Oxford High School.
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Photo by Brantley Bargerhuff
Aaron Osley (21) attempts to break a tackle by James Tapley (33) in the game between Clay-Chalkville and Oxford on Friday, Oct. 18, 2024 at Oxford High School.
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Photo by Brantley Bargerhuff
Aaron Frye (14) loads up for a pass in the game between Clay-Chalkville and Oxford On Friday, Oct. 18, 2024 at Oxford High School.
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Photo by Brantley Bargerhuff
James Tapley (33) delivers a big hit on Marlon Compton (1) in the game between Clay-Chalkville and Oxford On Friday, Oct. 18, 2024 at Oxford High School.
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Photo by Brantley Bargerhuff
Aaron Frye (14) breaks a tackle from Emileo English (5) in the game between Clay-Chalkville and Oxford On Friday, Oct. 18, 2024 at Oxford High School.
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Photo by Brantley Bargerhuff
Nick Richardson (9) catches a touchdown pass in the game between Clay-Chalkville and Oxford on Friday, Oct. 18, 2024 at Oxford High School.
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Photo by Brantley Bargerhuff
Oxford coaches showing excitment after a touchdown in the game between Clay-Chalkville and Oxford on Friday, Oct. 18, 2024 at Oxford High School.
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Photo by Brantley Bargerhuff
Marlon Compton (1) sheds a tackle after a catch in the game between Clay-Chalkville and Oxford On Friday, Oct. 18, 2024 at Oxford High School.
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Photo by Brantley Bargerhuff
CJ Eldridge (9) attempts to pick off a pass in the game between Clay-Chalkville and Oxford On Friday, Oct. 18, 2024 at Oxford High School.
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Photo by Brantley Bargerhuff
Kumar Robinson (3) on the run after catching a pass in the game between Clay-Chalkville and Oxford On Friday, Oct. 18, 2024 at Oxford High School.
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Photo by Brantley Bargerhuff
Aaron Osley (21) looking up field after catching a pass in the game between Clay-Chalkville and Oxford On Friday, Oct. 18, 2024 at Oxford High School.
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Photo by Brantley Bargerhuff
Nakarius Allen (13) tackles Damious Wilson (3) in the game between Clay-Chalkville and Oxford On Friday, Oct. 18, 2024 at Oxford High School.
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Photo by Brantley Bargerhuff
Aaron Frye (14) motioning a receiver in the game between Clay-Chalkville and Oxford On Friday, Oct. 18, 2024 at Oxford High School.
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Photo by Brantley Bargerhuff
Joshua Woods (11), stiff farming in Oxford defender in the game between Clay-Chalkville and Oxford On Friday, Oct. 18, 2024 at Oxford High School.
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Photo by Brantley Bargerhuff
Joseph Del-Toro (29) attempts a field goal in the game between Clay-Chalkville and Oxford On Friday, Oct. 18, 2024 at Oxford High School.
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Photo by Brantley Bargerhuff
Aaron Frye (14) rose out of the pocket in the game between Clay-Chalkville and Oxford On Friday, Oct. 18, 2024 at Oxford High School.
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Photo by Brantley Bargerhuff
Marlon Compton (1) attempts to stiff arm Desmond Whitson (7) in the game between Clay-Chalkville and Oxford On Friday, Oct. 18, 2024 at Oxford High School.
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Photo by Brantley Bargerhuff
Clay-Chalkville's band playing during the game between Clay-Chalkville and Oxford on Friday, Oct. 18, 2024 at Oxford High School.
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Photo by Brantley Bargerhuff
Joseph Del-Toro (29) kicks off in the game between Clay-Chalkville and Oxford On Friday, Oct. 18, 2024 at Oxford High School.
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Photo by Brantley Bargerhuff
Aaron Frye (14) throws a pass in the game between Clay-Chalkville and Oxford On Friday, Oct. 18, 2024 at Oxford High School.
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Photo by Brantley Bargerhuff
Clay-Chalkville huddles before a red zone play in the game between Clay-Chalkville and Oxford on Friday, Oct. 18, 2024 at Oxford High School.
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Photo by Brantley Bargerhuff
Joshua Woods (11) rushes in for touchdown in the game between Clay-Chalkville and Oxford On Friday, Oct. 18, 2024 at Oxford High School.
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Photo by Brantley Bargerhuff
Zaylin Nash (2) watches the kickoff in the game between Clay-Chalkville and Oxford On Friday, Oct. 18, 2024 at Oxford High School.
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Brantley Bargerhuff By Brantley Bargerhuff
#1 Marlon Compton returns the kickoff in the game between Clay-Chalkville and Oxford On Friday, Oct. 18, 2024 at Oxford High School. Photo by Brantley Bargerhuff
OXFORD — Like the Class 6A heavyweight contenders they are, Oxford and Clay-Chalkville high schools slugged it out Friday night, and the Yellow Jackets landed enough blows to claim a title-clinching 21-10 victory.
With the win, Oxford earned the Class 6A, Region 6 championship, while also ending a 21-game Cougars winning streak.
It would have looked like Clay-Chalkville should have won, as the Cougars dominated everywhere but on the scoreboard. But breakdowns at key moments defensively, too many dropped balls on offense and too many penalties overall resulted in the Cougars’ first loss since bowing out of the first round of the 2022 playoffs.
“There’s no way to sugarcoat it … they played better than we did,” Clay-Chalkville coach Stuart Floyd said. “We’ve been telling them all year long that ‘You do this or you do that and it’s going to come back and bite you.’ Well, all those things happened in this game.”
Early on, it appeared Clay-Chalkville might run away with it, as it dominated offensively and pushed out to a 10-0 lead midway through the second quarter.
The Cougars built that lead on an opening drive that took over seven minutes off the clock and ended with a 26-yard Joseph Del-Toro field goal at 4:42 of the first quarter.
Following a Josh Ivy interception at his own 28 with 1:25 left in the first quarter, the Cougars then moved 72 yards in 15 plays on a drive that ended with junior running back Joshua Woods going up the middle from 11 yards out at 6:17 of the second quarter. Del-Toro’s extra point made it 10-0 and that was the high-water mark for the Cougars.
At that point, the Yellow Jackets offense had recorded 24 total yards and two first downs, but it went to work and took the lead before halftime.
First, a 35-yard kickoff return by Cedric Twyman put Oxford in business at the Cougars' 33-yard line, and six plays later Caleb Wynn zipped up the middle from five yards out for the score. Eli Pesnell’s first of three extra points made it 10-7 Clay-Chalkville with 3:37 left in the half.
Oxford took the lead on a beautiful 32-yard pass over the middle by senior quarterback Mason Mims to Nick Richardson with 24 seconds left in the half that made it 14-10. The play had been set up by a 33-yard Mims-to-Jaylin Taylor completion on the previous play.
The Yellow Jackets threw the knockout blow with 55 seconds left in the third quarter, as Mims found Richardson for a 33-yard score that was almost an exact replay of their previous scoring connection. The play came on the same end of the field, Richardson was just as wide open and Clay-Chalkville was down for the count for good when it was done, trailing 21-10.
Three fourth-quarter drives by the Cougars ended in a missed 29-yard field goal by Del-Toro, a sack of quarterback Aaron Frye on fourth-and-7 at the Oxford 42, and an interception by Oxford defensive back Damious Wilson that sealed it with 1:32 left in the game.
Oxford, which came in ranked fifth in 6A in this week’s Alabama Sports Writers Association poll, improved to 8-0 and 5-0 in region play. Clay-Chalkville, ranked second coming in, fell to 7-1 and 4-1, and will look to bounce back next week at Pinson Valley.
“I don’t know if we thought we were just going to roll up here and they were going to lay down and give it to us, but it didn’t happen,” Floyd said. “Hopefully this will be good for us. It ain’t bad for us to taste a little blood every now and then.”
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